Melissa Hemminger was the third of three teachers honored by the Kiwanis Club this month.

J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune

Melissa Hemminger said being honored as an inspirational educator was a once-in-a-career opportunity.

“There’s so many others like me that deserve something like this,” she said after being honored at the Thursday meeting of the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club. “I’m beyond honored and in disbelief I was singled out. I know it won’t happen again, and that’s fine. I know it will be memorable.”

Hemminger was the third of three teachers honored by the Kiwanis Club this month as an inspirational educator.

She moved to Bowling Green in the sixth grade and graduated from Bowling Green High School in 2004. She went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University.

Her job with Bowling Green City Schools was her first.

Hemminger said she looked for a job in several other districts and actually canceled a second interview elsewhere to interview in Bowling Green.

“It was a gamble,” she said.

She was offered the job with BGCS on her 23rd birthday.

Hemminger is in her 14th year of teaching in Bowling Green schools, with her first year as kindergarten teacher at Milton Elementary. After three years as a first-grade teacher at Kenwood Elementary, she has spent the last 10 years teaching kindergarteners at Crim Elementary.

“I feel so much more comfortable with them,” she said about teaching kindergarten. “I don’t know what originally directed me there. But I just feel in my element.”

When Hemminger tells people she teaches kindergarten, she gets responses from “Aw, how cute,” to “I couldn’t do that.”

“I guess some days, I even wonder how I do it,” she said.

Being a teacher is one small part of the bigger picture, and her dedication is fueled by dedication of the community.

Hemminger enlisted her 17 students to help create her presentation.

She showed a video of her asking her students several questions.

When asked when she was born, one youngster guessed she was 100 years old.

Having fun with her students and helping them learn to love school is the number one reason why she enjoys being a teacher.

“I think at the younger age, that is so important — to start out loving school,” Hemminger said. “And even though there is more to play time, games and crafting, we teachers know those activities are valuable and have their place in the classroom.”

She prepares lessons she knows her students will love so they enjoy coming to school, she said.

Second on her list is building relationships with her students.

This means showing up beyond the classroom, whether at art shows, soccer games, dance recitals and even funerals.

“Showing up for students when they need it most has never been a question,” Hemminger said. “Being an important adult in a child’s life feels like a part of my job, but it’s also a privilege and it’s something I take very seriously.”

She also builds relationships with families, and showed a graphic of kindergarten parents peering through the classroom window while sixth-grade parents are driving off in a cloud of dust.

Hemminger said the third reason she enjoys being a teacher is helping students find and celebrate their individual strengths and abilities.

“Students come to school for so much more than learning,” she said. “I feel we owe it to them to send them home with more than just knowledge.”

One of the most important things a teacher can do is empower students to believe in their abilities, she said.

She had the Kiwanians taking a brain and body break, like she does with her students, by playing a music video that had them hopping, skipping and twirling – and then freezing in place.

Hemminger had her students tell the camera what a day in the life of a Bobcat is. That includes playing games, eating lunch, going to recess, sitting on the carpet, dancing and playing with toys.

Hemminger said she starts the day with unstructured play and then takes a yoga break after lunch and recess in order to get recalibrated for learning.

Crim Elementary Principal Zeb Kellough said Hemminger brings energy and joy to her classroom.

“Really, she’s a leader when it comes down to having conversations about how to do things. The knowledge she brings is just irreplaceable. She’s so good at what she does,” he said.